Book : Every Drop Of Blood The Momentous Second Inauguration

-Titulo Original : Every Drop Of Blood The Momentous Second Inauguration Of Abraham Lincoln

-Fabricante :

Grove Press

-Descripcion Original:

About the Author Edward Achorn, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Commentary and winner of the Yankee Quill Award, is the vice president and editorial pages editor of The Providence Journal. He is the author of two acclaimed books about nineteenth century baseball and American culture, Fifty-nine in 84 and The Summer of Beer and Whiskey. He lives in an 1840s farmhouse in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. A brilliantly conceived and vividly drawn story--Washington, D.C. on the eve of Abraham Lincolns historic second inaugural address as the lens through which to understand all the complexities of the Civil WarBy March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans and left intractable wounds on the nation. After a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washingtons Capitol grounds that day to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation by arguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the wars unimaginable horrors--every drop of blood spilled--might well have been Gods just verdict on the national sin of slavery. Edward Achorn reveals the nations capital on that momentous day--with its mud, sewage, and saloons, its prostitutes, spies, reporters, social-climbing spouses and power-hungry politicians--as a microcosm of all the opposing forces that had driven the country apart. A host of characters, unknown and famous, had converged on Washington--from grievously wounded Union colonel Selden Connor in a Washington hospital and the embarrassingly drunk new vice president, Andrew Johnson, to poet-journalist Walt Whitman; from soldiers advocate Clara Barton and African American leader and Lincoln critic-turned-admirer Frederick Douglass (who called the speech a sacred effort) to conflicted actor John Wilkes Booth--all swirling around the complex figure of Lincoln.In indelible scenes, Achorn vividly captures the frenzy in the nations capital at this crucial moment in Americas history and the tension-filled hope and despair afflicting the country as a whole, soon to be heightened by Lincolns assassination. His story offers new understanding of our great national crisis and echoes down the decades to resonate in our own time. Review Praise for Every Drop of Blood: An Economist Best Book of the YearAn Amazon Best Book of the Month (History)Richly detailed . . . In elegant, episodic detail, Mr. Achorn captures both the immediate experiences of those who attended the inaugural and the recent memories that colored everything they saw and felt, heard and said.--Adam Rowe, Wall Street JournalA lively guided tour of Washington during the 24 hours or so around Lincolns swearing-in . . . Achorn has a journalists gift for finding just the right quotation. He deftly fishes memorable descriptions--often less-than-flatting ones--out of 19th-century newspapers and diaries, especially as he introduces the most distinguished residents of the nations capital.--Adam Goodheart, Washington PostA fascinating account of an address which entered the national consciousness . . . Achorn has done Lincoln justice, distilling the essence of the speech in a reflection Lincoln would have understood.--John S. Gardner, GuardianAchorn, a noted editor and author, does a splendid job of recreating the atmosphere and experience of being in Washington on the day before and the day of Lincolns second inauguration. He has a gift for evocative, elaborate detail, and his descriptions of Washington--from a canal of stinking sewage to the new Capitol dome to the brothels and the various social functions--give readers a full flavor of the good and the plentifully ugly.--Steve Forbes, ForbesAchorn has delivered a readable study that breaks new ground, is lively, contains interesting engaging prose, ably illuminates the topic, and makes t